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Welcome to 2020 People's Ecochallenge!

Watch the short video below to learn the basics.
You'll be an 2020 People's Ecochallenge expert in no time!

Ecochallenge.org
2020 People's Ecochallenge
October 7 - October 28, 2020
Jim Stroeher's avatar

Jim Stroeher

Saint Louis Zoo Volunteers

"You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 782 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    1.0
    advocacy action
    completed
  • UP TO
    2,835
    minutes
    spent outdoors
  • UP TO
    16
    hours
    volunteered
  • UP TO
    440
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    240
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    35
    plastic containers
    not sent to the landfill

Jim's actions

Nature

Be a litter hero

Pick up trash in your neighborhood or a local park.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Explore My Area

I will explore at least one new hiking trail or nature walk in my area.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Buy orangutan-friendly candy this Halloween

Orangutans and many other animals are in danger due to unsustainable palm oil plantations, which destroy their forest homes. Palm oil can be found in many products—even candy! We are dedicated to caring for animals, so we encourage you to consider purchasing candy that contains sustainable palm oil. For a list of suggestions, please visit: https://www.stlzoo.org/files/9815/6985/6138/STLZoo_Candy_Guide_for_Holloween.pdf

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food

Advocate for Sustainable Palm Oil and Help Orangutans

Support companies that have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Write to your favorite companies and restaurants. Ask them to use sustainable palm oil in their products and to join the RSPO if they haven't done so already.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Waste

Use Reusable Bags

If at all possible, I will not accept any disposable bags when making purchases.

COMPLETED 11
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Volunteer in My Community

Do at Home

I will volunteer 12 hour(s) in my community during the challenge.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Justice for the Whole Community

Learn About Trans, Femme, and Nonbinary Experiences

Do at Home

I will spend 60 minutes learning about the experiences of trans, femme, and/or nonbinary people.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Nature

Watch a lecture series on climate change

The Aquarium of the Pacific has bundled a number of their past lectures on various aspects of climate change. You can pick and choose, but they have arranged them in a sequence that they believe presents a coherent picture of climate change and its impacts. Each of these lectures was presented by a leader in his/her field. See link below.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Energy

Adjust the Thermostat

Do at Home

I will adjust my thermostat down 2 degrees from usual when I use the heat, and up 2 degrees when I use air conditioning.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Nature

Do Nature Activities

Do at Home

I will engage in nature-based activities alone, or with my friends or family, for 60 minute(s) each day. (This can be anything from going on a walk or hike, to noticing the leaves changing color, to reading a book with nature themes.)

COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS

Food

Use the sustainable palm oil app.

Download the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's sustainable palm oil shopping app.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Simplicity

Read about sustainable living

Read a (new to you) book about sustainable living. Check the links for some suggested titles or ask a friend or fellow volunteer for a recommendation.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Action Track: Healing and Renewal

Core Values

Do at Home

We may find more meaning and joy in life when our actions are aligned with our personal values. I will determine what my top 3-5 core values are so that I can better align my actions with them.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Water

5-Minute Showers

Do at Home

I will save up to 20 gallons (75 L) of water each day by taking 5-minute showers.

COMPLETED 22
DAILY ACTIONS

Waste

Use the plastic footprint calculator

Complete the 3-minute consumption calculator to find ways to balance your plastic footprint.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

  • Jim Stroeher's avatar
    Jim Stroeher 10/28/2020 4:31 PM
    Fresh Thyme is allowing customers to bring in reusable bags again but you have to bag your own. Couple of the workers who have gotten to know me over the past years were quite excited to see me walk in with my crate this evening. Long time ago I started using a collapsible storage crate for all of my groceries. I still can't use my mesh produce bags but at least I have my crate.
    Read More
  • Jim Stroeher's avatar
    Jim Stroeher 10/20/2020 8:15 PM
    "I can only be myself."

    Marlow Baines was the final speaker for Earth Day Half-Birthday Climate Change Speaker series this past weekend. She is an 18 year old Earth Guardian and is a truly amazing speaker. She packs so much in to 30 mins that you will be exhausted by the end and if like me, yearning to learn and do more.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS95bvDKjGE
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Waste
    Were you surprised by your results? What did you learn?
    Jim Stroeher's avatar
    Jim Stroeher 10/18/2020 2:12 PM
    My plastic footprint is higher than I expected but much lower than the average (38kg vs 84kg.) I make an effort to avoid plastic but don't think twice about buying meat in Styrofoam trays wrapped in plastic or milk in jugs. I recently committed to not buy eggs in Styrofoam and I think now I will commit to buying as much meat as I can from the butcher counter. On a side note I am trying to reduce the amount of meat in general.
    Read More
    • Rachel Drochter's avatar
      Rachel Drochter 10/19/2020 6:39 AM
      Yes! While leaving in the middle of nowhere northern Illinois, I learned alot about the environmental impact of CAFO (concentrated animal feeding operations). https://www.sierraclub.org/michigan/why-are-cafos-bad 
      Read More
  • Jim Stroeher's avatar
    Jim Stroeher 10/18/2020 1:47 PM
    My earthday365 adventure today was cleaning up a small section of Deer Creek on the border between Webster Groves and Maplewood. A small group of maybe 20 volunteers removed 30 or more bags of trash along with a huge pile of industrial garbage. This afternoon I have been participating in a series of earthday365 video presentations on the future effects of climate change, the importance of the great riverways, the relationship between climate change and social justice and up next, effects of climate change and community especially for youth.
    Read More
    • Rachel Drochter's avatar
      Rachel Drochter 10/20/2020 7:33 AM
      earthday365! I am going to share the climate change speaker series with volunteers. Thanks for the idea!
      Read More
    • Pat Hofmeister's avatar
      Pat Hofmeister 10/18/2020 2:53 PM
      Jim, you are doing some amazing work!  I have also learned so much about recycling that has contradicted what I've thought for a long time.  I am really enjoying this challenge!
      Read More
  • Jim Stroeher's avatar
    Jim Stroeher 10/17/2020 12:45 PM
    Volunteered with the Give Back to the Earth Volunteer Clean Up in the Dutchtown neighborhood alleys around Marquette Park this morning. Meet some new people, cleaned up a couple of alleys and gathered up over 50 mason jars that I will be repurposing. Heading out to Deer Creek Park in Maplewood for another clean up tomorrow morning.
    Read More